Image Credit: Twitter: @Chicago_Police

Chicago, October 21 (RHC)-- In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that nearly all municipal workers must get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the month.  New York City’s police and firefighter unions promised legal action to stop the vaccine mandate.  

This comes after a viral video showed a pair of NYPD officers forcibly ejecting a subway rider from a station after he asked the officers to comply with a city ordinance requiring them to wear masks.  NYPD’s commissioner on Wednesday called the incident “absolutely inexcusable” and said the two officers would be disciplined.

In Chicago, a judge has rejected a bid by the Fraternal Order of Police to temporarily halt Chicago’s vaccine mandate.  

The same judge has ordered union president John Catanzara to stop talking about the mandate on social media, after he urged officers to defy Chicago’s vaccination rules.  Catanzara said: “Do not fill out the portal information.  You are under no obligation to do that, other than the city’s demand. … I’ve made my status very clear as far as the vaccine, but I do not believe the city has the authority to mandate that to anybody, let alone that information about your medical history.”

In August, officer Catanzara came under fire for comparing Chicago’s vaccine mandate to the actions of Nazi Germany.